408 server errors

Would VPS hosting solve the problem?

[grandma genie]

Hello,

My website is on a hosted server. It is a shared environment. I am getting quite a few 408 errors showing up in the logs and several times they have caused a loss in sales. I contacted the host and they said it was the shared hosting causing the problem. Another time they said it was not. First they said changing to VPS would not solve the problem, then changed their tune and said it would. So, now I don't know what to believe. I've been on other hosted servers before and did not have the problem then. Seems to be just with this new host. So, should I upgrade to VPS or move the site to a new host? Any comments would be appreciated.

Grandma_genie

[g1smd]

HTTP/1.1 : 408 Request Timeout

Is the request that generates this error, a very large request?

[lucy24]

If the errors are only happening with this host, AND the host's suggested solution is to move to a VPS, then I'd look at a solution involving

"new host" = "previous host"

;)

Is there any way to pinpoint exactly when the timeout is happening? Receiving the request, processing the request (preparing a php file, I assume), sending the result back? On shared hosting, it may not be possible.

[grandma genie]

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to them. I always noticed them after a visitor ended the visit. I'd get one or several of these at the end of the visit:

108.232.81.nn - - [01/Apr/2013:11:47:03 -0400] "-" 408 - "-" "-"

Different IPs, of course. They always appear 5 minutes after the last entry of every visitor who gets the time out. But I don't see lots of them. Maybe 2 or 3 a day. Sometimes the visitor is in the shopping cart, sometimes they have ended the visit with the favicon.ico and sometimes the visitor isn't even really visiting. Their visits are just the result of a link in a forum. You know, a hotlink. Here is an example of one of those:

68.9.45.nnn - - [01/Apr/2013:02:08:24 -0400] "GET /image.jpg HTTP/1.1" 301 240 "forum url" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.22 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/25.0.1364.172 Safari/537.22"
68.9.45.nnn - - [01/Apr/2013:02:08:25 -0400] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 301 - "forum url" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.22 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/25.0.1364.172 Safari/537.22"
68.9.45.nnn - - [01/Apr/2013:02:08:25 -0400] "GET /example HTTP/1.1" 301 249 "forum url" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.22 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/25.0.1364.172 Safari/537.22"
68.9.45.nnn - - [01/Apr/2013:02:08:25 -0400] "GET /example HTTP/1.1" 200 25250 "forum url" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.22 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/25.0.1364.172 Safari/537.22"
68.9.45.nnn - - [01/Apr/2013:02:09:08 -0400] "GET /example HTTP/1.1" 200 21494 "forum url" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.22 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/25.0.1364.172 Safari/537.22"
68.9.45.nnn - - [01/Apr/2013:02:15:51 -0400] "-" 408 - "-" "-"
68.9.45.nnn - - [01/Apr/2013:02:15:51 -0400] "-" 408 - "-" "-"
68.9.45.nnn - - [01/Apr/2013:02:15:51 -0400] "-" 408 - "-" "-"

But the other day a customer wanted to know if their order had gone through. I never got an order from them, but according to the logs they got a time out just as they were trying to checkout. So, it seems the server error prevented the checkout process from happening. That's when I asked the host about it and they said, too bad, shared servers are the cause. Too much traffic. Then I asked the same question today and got a different answer. First they said it was my software, then they changed their tune and said it was the shared server. I think they are blowing smoke. But I have yet to find a host I like. The one before this one went out of business. That is the only reason I moved. This is the first one where I am seeing those 408s. I asked my host about a VPS. At first the guy said it wouldn't make any difference. Then he left the chat for about 5 minutes and when he came back he said it would. I think he just spoke to his supervisor who said if I went to the VPS they would make more money. So, I thought I would check with webmasterworld for an impartial opinion.

I'm sure it is not my software. This is the only host where this type of error is happening. It has to be their servers. I wish I could find a host who actually owned their own servers. So far all I've had are hosts who rent space on somebody elses server.

But I don't want to lose business because of these errors. So I guess it's time to shop for a new host.

Grandma

[grandma genie]

OK, I am now on a new host (VPS) and guess what, the site went down with this note from the host: Our SAN head unit has been bricked and we are waiting for a replacement. ETA 10-12 hours.

I would say it went down at noon on April 15 and it is now 11 am April 16 and the site is still down. Anyone know how long a reputable company would take repairing a SAN head unit?

Grandma

[grandma genie]

Have moved again to another host, one that is a developer who can code the software of my shopping cart, which will help tremendously. So far, so good.